


The Scene That Should Have Been

by goldenrazzmatazz



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternative Scene, Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Cut Scene, Dead Body, Decapitation, Deleted Scenes, Final Battle, Nobody Actually Dies, Russo Brothers - Freeform, self-deprication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenrazzmatazz/pseuds/goldenrazzmatazz
Summary: At SDCC 2019, The Russo Brothers explained that they had originally planned for Thanos to kill 2014 Captain America, and use his severed head to taunt the remaining Avengers during the final battle in 2023.Written in a way that it still canonically fits within the film, this is my imagining of that scene. Spoilers for the final battle of Avengers: Endgame.





	The Scene That Should Have Been

Head bowed, Thanos sat in the center of the destruction.

Smoke billowed across the broken ground, encircling the man that had haunted them for so many years. It rolled off the ground, like a wave crashing through the sea, before vanishing. It wasn’t long before the next roll came, the heat from the missile was still burning the ground. The damage was almost indescribable; the man named Captain America hadn’t seen anything like it since his days in the trenches.

From atop the hill of rubble, Steve watched. Thanos hadn’t moved in ages, seemingly waiting. He was crouched, a long blade stabbed into the dirt behind him, and in front of him a black sack.

“What’s he doing?” Tony approached from behind, stepping into Steve’s line of vision.

“Nothing. He’s just sitting.”

Thanos’ glanced at them, as if he could hear their discussion. Steve wondered if it was possible, he had somehow known exactly when and where they were. In a world where time travel was possible, he wasn’t sure how Thanos had found their location.

“Nebula.” Steve answered his own unasked question, “She must have been a double agent.”

“For five years after her father’s death? I spent days with her on that ship, Steve. She hated him more than any of us.” Tony snapped, and then relaxed. “It wasn’t her.”

Steve nodded. He didn’t want to think that any of their team had betrayed them. Not after everything they had gone through.

“Doesn’t matter either way. We have to kill this son of a bitch.”

“Language.” Tony muttered, and he forced a smile. It was a joke from a lifetime ago, a faded memory barely brought to the surface.

“I sure was something, wasn’t I?”

Hours earlier, he had seen himself for who he once was. Not in a metaphorical sense, he had literally fought his past self. Now he knew why Tony had hated him so much one they first met.

He had been arrogant. No, arrogant wasn’t the right word. He believed too much that the good guys would always win, even if he had lost so much.

_Righteous,_ that was the word. He wanted truth and justice, and had been gone so long that he didn’t realize they had lost their meaning. If they had ever had meaning. He was a man with hope that the world was good, and to Tony, he was naïve for grounding himself in that belief.

And now he was face to face with a creature who believed that the only way that good could prevail was to kill half of everything in existence. He believed in a world that was greedy and weak.

In all honesty, if he hadn’t off had to fight Hydra again, if he hadn’t of had to see first-hand the pain that they had caused Bucky, he wouldn’t have believed such evil had existed. He wouldn’t have had the ability, to the strength, to face Thanos, yet alone fight him.

Thor mounted the pile of rubble, taking the space beside Steve. He didn’t know where the others had gone, or if they were even alive. The explosion had caused the building to collapse. He prayed that they would made it out alive, even if he doubted that they would be alive for much longer.

“Any movement?” Thor repeated Tony’s question, and Steve shook his head.

“Point break,” Tony begins, and Steve wonders if he was purposefully trying to remind them of past battles, “Did you see anyone in the rubble? It’s a mess.”

Steve turned to face Thor, hopeful.

“Nothing, the explosion was powerful.” He shuddered violently, “Bruce? Maybe what’s left of the Hulk could withstand it? Or Nebula.”

As Thor’s voice cracked, Steve forced himself to look away. Thor wasn’t making a statement; he was practically praying. What world did they live in where the Gods themselves had to pray? He was right though; it was doubtful any human could have survived that. Shit, the three of them were only here because they weren’t human, Thor was a God, Steve a super-soldier and Tony was encased in metal.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Below them, Thanos grabbed the bag in front of him. With the distance, Steve couldn’t make out what it was. He did, however, recognize the smirk on the titan’s face.

Suddenly, Thanos launched the bag towards the trio. It arced through the air, spinning towards them.

Instantly, Steve was brought back to 1942. He wasn’t a supersoldier, but a small, skinny kid from Brooklyn who was lucky to be enlisted. It wasn’t a cloth bag flying towards him, but a grenade. The same sense of desperation, fear, and passion spread through him like it had so many years ago.

Thor must have had the same though, or at least the same sense of danger, as he slammed his weapon axe against the ground, and a beautiful light shone over him. Steve didn’t look, but imagined that he had changed into his warrior attire.

The sack hit the ground in front of them. There was no explosion, no light show, no intel of what was inside.

Thor was the first to move, bumping the sack with his axe. It wobbled in place, but didn’t explode.

“What’s in it?” Tony asked out loud.

Thanos stood, watching them. He hadn’t reached for his weapon, hadn’t called to his men. He just watched.

“I don’t know. I know just as much as you do, Tony.” Steve didn’t mean to be harsh, but the words slipped out just the same.

Thor caught the edge of the fabric on his axe, dragging it slowly to rip the fabric. The canvas pulled and then released, coming undone like a zipper.  
The inside was stained a dark glistening red, almost brown in the light. The mass in the middle was harder to recognize.

“Oh my god.”

Understanding hit Tony long before recognition filled Steve.

It was a furry, blonde ball matted with the same substance. It’s possible Steve didn’t recognize it because he hadn’t spent many years exposed to it. Maybe the horror was so unimaginable his brain simply couldn’t process it.

“It’s you, Steve.”

“What?”

Underneath the hair was pale, smooth skin. Unblemished, with no hint of the starvation or illness that had effected it for years. In death, he looked more peaceful than he had his entire life, even if his last moments were horrific.

It was Steve Rogers’ own severed head.

His lungs contracted, his chest was suddenly smaller. His stomach twisted, and he was submerged in a wave of nausea. He recognized the sensation immediately, but it wasn’t one he had felt since the super serum had first pulsed through his veins.

His eyes were frozen on the sight. He wanted to look away, had to look away, but he couldn’t. It was too awful, too unnatural. Sure, he had fought himself earlier that day, but that was different. That was weird but at least he was alive.

Steve couldn’t even recognize if it was the same iteration of himself.

Tony placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in.

“Steve, that’s not you.”

“Look away, Steven.”

He felt a sense of shame. Ridiculous, really, that he could feel embarrassed with this sight in front of him. It occurred to him that neither of his companions were looking at it. They were staring at Steve to gauge his reaction.

“You couldn’t live with your own failure."

It had been almost five years, and still that voice sent chills down Steve’s bones.

“Where did that bring you?” Thanos stepped forward, “Back to me.”

Steve could see that the titan was smiling. Proud of his work thus far, and proud of his intimidation of the remaining Avengers. 

Beside him, Tony looked at Steve expectantly. He was waiting for him to make the order, to decide the battle plan. For so long the two had battled for leadership, yet when the final fight came they respected one another to maintain their boundaries. It was the respect that they should have always given one another.

In the back of his mind, Steve promised himself that if he survived the fight, he would apologize. Apologize for everything. For fighting with him for so long. For hiding Bucky and for hiding what he knew about the death of the Starks. God, for fighting and breaking the arc reactor in Siberia. Now, five years later he was sorry for dragging him away from his family and making him fight. Fuck, Steve hoped he survived not because he wanted to live but because he was overwhelmed with the need to tell Stark he realized how bad he had fucked up.

Finally, Steve spoke.

“Let’s go.”


End file.
